Odyssey of Fear
by TrinityTesla
Summary: Just what is Bellatrix Lestrange afraid of? Bella/Rod
1. Midnight

**_I'd like to thank my best friend for providing the inspiration for this fic. Thank you my sweet angel xXx_**

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Midnight, the time where the shadows are at their blackest and the silence is so profound it is as if all noise ceased to exist just hours before. Midnight, the time where the night seems as if it will last for eternity and where the things that terrorise us in dreams spring to life in the all consuming blackness that is midnight. At least that is what Bellatrix Lestrange found as she jumped out of her sleep with her heart dancing the can can in her breast and her skin dewy in the moonlight from the film of sweat that covered her. Iron bands were constricting tighter and tighter around her chest as her panic took over forcing her out from her bed to hurtle naked and terrified along the corridors of the Lestrange manor, seeking only to get away from it but finding it's whispy shape in every nook she passed that was filled with the inky blackness of midnight.

From the shadows it leered at her, the thing conjured from her nightmare by her mind to torture her in the waking world surrounded by the blackness of the night. Unable to stop her frantic dash around the manor she crashed into a console table in the upstairs hallway and had splinters of wood enter the soles of her feet. Mindless to the pain she ran onwards, eventually arriving at the head of the grand staircase. Looking around desperately she made a sound of pure fear in her throat as she saw it coalesce near her, it was whispy and nearly as black as the oily blackness of the night itself. She turned hastily to run down the stairs but missed her step and slid down on her side until she reached the bottom and wound up in a tangle of limbs.

Preceded by a cold so numbing it felt like the inside a tomb the thing floated down the stairs towards the tangled up dark haired witch. Turning her head an inch from the cold marble floor beneath her cheek she saw the thing draw closer and screamed while trying to move away from it. Her screams were deafening and drowned out the popping noise of her husbands apparation. He had just returned from his latest mission and on hearing his wife's screams he took off to find her, swearing to himself about the size of the manor.

After searching through the thick oily blackness of the night he came to her, finding her bloodied and in a tangle of limbs at the foot of the stairs cowering in fright from something only she could see. He felt his heart break when he saw how his once fiery lioness was reduced to a frightened kitten. Moving quickly he took the dark haired witch into his arms trying to reassure her that she was safe only for her to scream louder thinking the thing had got her. Shushing her lovingly he grabbed his wand from his sleeve and used it to light up the manor.

Only when the inky blackness had gone did Bellatrix stop screaming and looked up into the gray eyes of her husband. With a sob she pressed herself into his chest "It was after me Roddie, the dementor from my cell. It was here and it was chasing me" Her voice was muffled by her racking sobs and because her face was pressed into the hard muscles of his chest. Holding his wife close to him and rocking her slightly he felt tears welling up. He never cried but seeing his wife now so broken after their stint in Azkaban was the only thing that could get the tall aristocratic man to show his emotions. Pressing his face into her lustrous curls he spoke then, hoping she would not hear his own tears "You're safe mon cherie, nothing will ever harm you again. I love you"


	2. Dawn's Waters

With the dawn of the new day the terrors of midnight are expunged, the inky blackness of midnight replaced by the warmth and brightness of the new day's sun. Early mornings, filled with the bright sun and wild bird calls, are an optimistic time of day, where the terrors of the inky black midnight are nothing but a fragmented dream that is easily forgotten as the blackness and terror is devoured by the light.

It was just such a morning that Bellatrix awoke to on the morning after her wild and fearful midnight charge around the darkened Lestrange manor. At first she couldn't recall anything then gradually, with the familliar comforting scent of Rodolphus lying beside her, the fragments of last night began returning to her. Her recollection was still hazy but she remembered being injured during her frantic dash around the manor and of Rodolphus saving her. He was her knight in shining armour as when he took her small frail body into his arms the darkness immediately receeded and she was safe once more. Safe from what she couldn't properly recall now but safe from whatever had lurked in her dreams.

Turning onto her side she smiled softly at her husband's relaxed visage and moved her small pale hand to stroke back some tendrils of his dark brown hair from his face. Merlin he was beautiful and how she loved him. She had liked him since she met him at Hogwarts and still couldn't believe that all these years later they were still married. The only thing that could've made her happier was to hold their child in her arms but it was never the right time to start a family. Someday soon peerhaps they could. It was as she was lost in her thoughts that Rodolphus woke up, his grey eyes fixing onto her chocolate coloured doe-like eyes and smiling faintly. He adored his wife and thought she was the most beautiful woman ever to walk the earth. Seeing him looking at her brought Bella back to the here and now and she smiled softly in return "Morning my love" she spoke then and cuddled to him. Returning the embrace he echoed the welcome back to her, his hands carressing the small of her back. He was happy albeit surprised to find his sobbing and broken wife of the night before was now the strong woman once more. This transformation never ceased to amaze him.

Gathering his wife tighter still Rodplphus held her to him and apparated them away with no warning. When they arrived he let Bella go for the moment as she was coughing due to the suddenness of the apparating. When she had regained her composure she turned to him, her dark eyes confused and questioning "why did you apparate us and to where?" She asked of him then slowly she turned to survey the room, finding that it was a wonderful suite decked out in creams and greens. Through the french doors at the opposite end she could see a small roof terrace overlooking the ocean. She swallowed nervously as she looked at the water. Due to her time in Azkaban she was terrified of the water, though of course no one knew that. Not even Rodolphus knew she was scared of the water. It was because of the guards and how when they had taken her down to be bathed once a month they had delighted in pushing her head under the water and holding it there until she was nearly dead. The same thing happened for most of the fourteen years she had been locked away in there. As Bella took in the surrondings Rodolphus watched her reaction. After last night he'd decided they needed to relax and so had taken them away for a weekend. He had finalised the booking details via owl last night while Bella was sleeping again after he had carried her back upstairs to bed. Now he lent down to press a kiss to her shoulder "We are in Jamaica because I thought a weekend away may do some good" He answered her question. Repressing a shiver she turned her gaze back to his and smiled softly "Thank you Roddy, it's beautiful here"

Running a hand through his wife's rich and dark lustrous curls he looked at her properly, seeing the dark circles under her chocolate coloured doe like eyes that paid testament to her midnight chase through their mansion. "Get dressed mon cherie and we'll go and get some breakfast. The attendents are setting it up on the beach for us"._Breakfast, on the beach? By that water? _Bella swallowed nervously and offered a weak smile to him "Wouldn't you prefer to stay here mon amour? We could stay in bed and feed each other breakfast" She gave him her very best sexy smirk. It was the one she'd used on him all those years ago when they had met at Hogwarts. It was to no avail though, Rodolphus was stubborn and he'd decided that Bella needed to eat an hour later he was sitting on the sofa perusing The Daily Prophet when he heard the clicking of heels on the stone floors. Looking up he smiled. She'd dressed in her newest dress he had bought for her. It was a strapless coreset dress with long bustle crafted in the finest emerald green silk and accented with midnight black. It made his wife look even more alluring. For his part Rodolphus had adopted a more casual look that morning, choosing to don a dove grey pair of suit trousers teamed with a black polo shirt in lieu of the more formal shirts he wore when they were at home. After folding the paper and putting it on the sofa he held out his arm for Bella to take it "Shall we mon cherie?" Swallowing somewhat nervously the raven haired beauty walked forward a couple of more steps and placed her hand on her husbands arm. She was not looking forward to this. Not being so close to the water. As the couple walked out into the brightness of the Jaimaican sun Bella lifted her other hand to shield her eyes from the glare. It was blistering hot already and so bright it was hurting her eyes. Stopping still for a moment Bella gingerly let her hand fall back to her side and let her eyes adjust to the brightness of the day time. Looking around she saw Rodolphus standing beside a table so laden with food she felt sure she could hear the wood it was made from groaning under the weight of it. As she was walking to where breakfast was set up she realised the water wasn't just near, it was coming up the beach high enough to be able to lap at their feet while sitting at the table. She squeezed her eyes closed for a moment and summoned her courage. It wouldn't do for the big fearsome deatheater to show her fear of the water. Summoning a bright, yet fake, smile she sat down in the chair and let Rodolphus push her towards the table. "Is now a good time to say I'm not hungry?" she tried a joke though it came out as weaker than she had intended it. Rodolphus though merely raised an eyebrow and chuckled. It was as Bella was reaching for some of the melon that she first felt the smooth carress of the cold water lapping over her bare foot. Gritting her teeth she waited it out, glad when the water receeded once more. As they both ate breakfast the conversation turned to ideas of what else they could do whilst in Jaimaica. Bella's idea was to stay in bed but Rodolphus wanted to sight see a little. It was as Bella was finishing her croissant that tragedy struck the peaceful scene. The water came up with more force than last tiime and covered the couple's feet completely.

With a shreik of fear Bella pushed back from the table instantly recalling her time in Azkaban. It was there that her fear of water had been born due to the harsh treatment of the guards. It had started as punishments then they had done it just to feel the power they wielded over the dark witch. They used to drag her by her hair from her cell to take her to the bathrooms to be bathed. Once in the bath they'd seize her and push her head under the water, holding her there until her struggles had almost completely stopped. She had lost count of the number of times she had lost consciousness while under the water. Seeing his wife screaming and flailing Rodolphus jumped up from his seat and rushed to try to help his wife, his hands grabbing ahold of her wrists "Bella...Bella..I'm here.." He tried speaking to her but his words were drowned out by her screams and his grip on her loosened as she writhed and fought against his hold. When he had let go completely she clawed at him and at herself, falling with a thump onto the hard packed sand of the beach where her fear was further inflamed by the lapping of the waves over her body. By now her voice was hoarse from her screams and her vision misted by tears yet still she screamed. If she'd been back in that cold tin bath in Azkaban she'd have nearly drowned by now from swallowing so much water. She'd screamed and fought the guards every time but to no avail. Now she had mistaken Rodolphus for a guard and would not be soothed. Bodily pinning his wife down using both hands and his knees he disapparated them away from the water to where the promenade was. While he had not been aware of his wife's fear of the water he had seen her reactions to it's cold carress and had realised that's what was wrong.

Feeling the hard concrete beneath her slender frame had Bella's screams lessening to mere shreiks of terror until eventually she was whimpering and wispering that she was sorry. So sorry. Hearing that had Rodolphus's heart again hurting as he slowly let his wife go only to, instead, pull her into his arms and soothe her there by whispering sweet nothings to her in her ear. After awhile Bella did calm considerably, enough that she was ready to sleep right there wrapped up in her husbands arms by the side of the beach.


End file.
